Champagne Tasting

Mandi came to visit this past weekend. We filled our time with plenty of eating, shopping, and drinking! We also did a bit of cooking (roasted figs in honey), some JoJo cuddling (she is obsessed with Mandi), and a bit of TV watching, both trashy (she hooked me on Jersey Shore) and wonderful (Friends marathons–”I want to see the one where Ross says ‘pivot’!”). Our big event of the weekend was a day of champagne tasting in Napa. SO MUCH FUN!

We began the day at Domaine Carneros, a gorgeous winery. It had table service for tastings, which I loved. We decided to sit outside on the patio, overlooking Napa Valley. It was a perfect, warm day, and the tastings were delicious. Mandi tasted red wine, while I tasted the champagne. A perfect way to start the day.

Famished, we headed to brunch at Redd, an awesome restaurant that Mandi found. We thoroughly enjoyed our food, including chicken wings (free gift from the kitchen, thank you!), steamed pork buns, a lobster club, and tuna tartare. I…suggested…to Mandi that she order something I discovered called a Bacon Mary.

Our next stop was Mumm. This winery also had table service, and we chose again to sit outside on the patio. It was really comfortable with misters and umbrellas, and boasted phenomenal views. Mandi and I both tasted the champagne here, which was tasty!

By this point, I had had a lot of champagne, but we still had one more stop. We headed to Domaine Chandon, intending to split a tasting (which up until this point had included three glasses apiece, plus whatever free champagne the workers felt like giving us!) or just ordering a glass each. We discovered that they had some tasty-sounding cocktails, so we went with those instead. I ordered a Love Potion #9, which was champagne with some sweet syrup, and an edible hibiscus flower! No table service here, but we got our drinks and explored the grounds, then found a table outside to relax at. I loved my drink and I especially loved my flower. Mandi also had a taste…see below…

A really, really fun day. Drinking so much champagne made us crave cheese like never before, so we spent the evening at home roasting figs and eating them with cheese and almond-stuffed olives!